On Tuesday night, in a dimly lit room on the first floor of the Saatchi Gallery in central London, Martin Raymond, editor-in-chief of Future Laboratory, a trend-forecasting consultancy, stood alone. Dressed smartly in a sharp black suit, white shirt and black tie, he stared into a tall wooden cabinet at the diamond necklace inside.
Behind him, diamond-shaped and jewel-coloured lights danced on the wall. “There were some here earlier,” he whispered. “One from Singapore, and a property tycoon from Hong Kong.” Raymond was referring to jewellery investors, and he had spotted two of them among the celebrity-laden crowd at Tuesday’s Bulgari Save the Children charity fundraiser.
For where better to hunt the next of the big spenders than at a charity gala, that peculiar paradoxical phenomenon where huge amounts of money are spent in order to get people to give more money. (“You have to do it,” explains Francesco Trapani, Bulgari’s chief executive, of why he was hosting the event. “It’s part of the communications machine.”)
“The biggest growth areas in long-term investment are diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and gold,” opines trend-forecaster Raymond, “and Bulgari has the reputation of buying the best pieces.” He glanced back at the deserted room behind him.
Earlier in the evening, the space had been filled with the sound of chatter. British film and television stars, British royalty, and British Vogue personnel had gathered together in tribal packs (media, fashion, society), apparently focused not on the antique jewellery cabinets laden with expensive, one-of-a-kind gems that lined the walls but, rather, on drinking champagne from wine glasses, nibbling ravioli from small black bowls and comparing slashed stretch leggings.
Many were there to see, others to be seen, but a silent, under-the-radar cluster were there only to bid. They were the ones lingering in the cavernous jewellery gallery while the rest of the guests wafted from the antechamber – a brightly lit room filled with portraits of celebrities looking sincere and concerned and displaying a Bulgari Save the Children silver ring – through to the music room at the back, where Razorlight’s Johnny Borrell was picking up his microphone to perform a set on a stage conveniently next to a Perspex block otherwise known as the cocktail bar.
Alex Curran, footballer Steven Gerrard’s partner and the focus of a new Vogue feature, had been invited by the luxury fashion magazine, a co-sponsor of the evening. “It was the least we could do,” said editor Alex Shulman of her role as co-host of the eighth leg of the Bulgari-sponsored, 11-city tour that will culminate in an auction in December at Christie’s New York, all proceeds going to Save the Children.
As Curran, in a painterly-print Josh Goot mini-dress and rock’n’roll black suede ankle boots, prepared for the auction, she seemed to pay less attention to the glittering jewels and more to the cavalcade of people-to-know passed before her by her Vogue chaperone.
It was left to one handsome couple to linger by a jewellery cabinet, captivated by a multicoloured choker that mimicked the display of light on the wall. An investor? “I could be tempted ... ,” said the man.
Nicola Copping is the FT’s deputy fashion editor
